


Bright Lights (Pre-Release Track)

by Hitsugi_Zirkus



Category: DRAMAtical Murder - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, Ice Cream, M/M, Nail Polish, Popcorn, Sleepovers, fanta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:38:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4561386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hitsugi_Zirkus/pseuds/Hitsugi_Zirkus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aoba, Ren, and Clear plan a study sleepover, but of course when you’ve got great people plus junk food plus access to movies, actual studying doesn’t happen.</p><p>[Stand-alone side story to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/3540686/chapters/7793216">Loud Like Love</a> that is not too far in the future but not too near either. You don't need prior knowledge of the series to read this.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bright Lights (Pre-Release Track)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yxxv](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yxxv/gifts).



> Second prompt received from Clear Squad, this one from most dear Mel~ She wanted Clearenao sleepover with nail polish and like tbh who could even deny that?? So here we are. Sorry it took me like two weeks to upload this orz but I hope everyone enjoys the fluff!!

Aoba actually had a whole living room as space so when it came down to deciding where to spend the night, it was unanimously agreed that Ren and Clear would go over to Aoba’s apartment.

In theory, it was going to be a study sleepover since midterms was rearing its ugly head, but Clear got the impression that his textbooks would hardly be given any attention that night. When Aoba came to pick them up from the dorms in the middle of the evening, Ren got shotgun while Clear stretched his legs out in the back. The shops they drove past were already flickering on their neon lights, making the windows of Aoba’s car sparkle with city lights and the growing sunset.

Clear was already in his pajamas, a baggy and worn pair of yellow pants and a light-blue top with glittery stars with smiley faces printed on it. He was pretty sure it was a shirt girls would normally wear, but when he found it hanging at the secondhand store, he couldn’t possibly say no to it. Despite its design and the fact that it was a little short, exposing a bit of his naval if he moved too much, he wasn’t embarrassed as he walked behind Aoba and Ren at the grocery store. Aoba and Ren meanwhile still had their jeans on.

Even though Aoba insisted that they were just getting ice cream, Clear grabbed a cart, telling Ren that he wanted to push him inside it. In the ten seconds it took for Ren to climb awkwardly in the basket, Aoba pretended not to know either of them.

Ice cream was not the only thing purchased. On the way to the frozen aisles alone, they got popcorn and a pack of Fanta. Aoba eyed the alcohol, but instead said they’d save that for another occasion.

“Alright, what ice cream do you guys want?”

“Umm… I like all ice cream, I think.”

“Well, we’re not getting _all_ the ice cream. Ren, do you have any favorites?”

Ren rolled over in the cart to look at the selection. “I enjoy the taste of that one.” He pointed.

Aoba made a face as Clear exclaimed in delight, “Phish Food!”

“Okay no,” Aoba said disapprovingly, even as he got out three pints of it, “what the hell is in this?”

Clear took one of the pints, turning it over in his hands. “It’s chocolate and marshmallow and caramel and fudge fish! Aaah, Ren, this sounds like the best ice cream flavor ever!”

With a small laugh, Aoba piled the pints in with Ren in the basket. “You two really have got huge sweet tooths.”

“Just try it, Aoba, and if you don’t like it, you can give it to me and Ren!”

“We’ll see…”

The cashier gave them odd looks as they pulled into the checkout lane, her eyes going from Clear’s odd pajamas to Ren sitting in the basket holding his Phish Food, then finally to Aoba who seemed to understand how they must look. He only laughed nervously and asked if she could break a twenty.

Halfway back to the apartment, Aoba mused if they should’ve gotten actual food while they were at the store, considering he didn’t really have anything at home. That spurred a whole meaningless argument if popcorn qualified as a food or not (“It does, you eat it.” “But it’s not a _meal_ , you eat it as a _snack_.” “You can get full on popcorn though.” “We got ice cream too. We’ll definitely be full.” “Ren, don’t take _his_ side!”).

Sei and Mizuki were out at a party, so by the time they arrived at the apartment, it looked like they’d have it to themselves. In the days of planning leading up to that night, Clear had asked Aoba in confusion on multiple occasions if he just wanted to reschedule so that he could go to the party too. Aoba was definitely the type to go out and be social, and Clear knew Aoba had already gone out to some parties that semester.

“Nah, I’m just not in the mood,” Aoba had said. Clear wasn’t sure if he believed that or not, but either way if he got to spend a whole night with Aoba, then there was no way he could complain about it. Just thinking about it, that he’d actually spend the night with Aoba in the same roof made his heart jump giddily. He wondered if Ren felt the same. Of course, it wasn’t solely the company of Aoba’s that they looked forward too, of that Clear was certain.

As anticipated, studying lasted only about half an hour after they sat down in the living room, when Aoba sighed for the fourth time that he absolutely did _not_ care about the history of pop music in the 90s. He held up his textbook and pointedly buried it under one of the sofa’s pillows.

“They’re literally taking away all enjoyment I have for music.”

“Well, don’t you ever sometimes can’t help but analyze music a little? You’re a singer after all, Aoba.”

“Sure, sometimes I’ll marvel over a lyric or think how incredible a beat is, but I don’t like getting into the _history_ of it all.” Aoba huffed through his nose and flopped back on the floor dramatically. Both Ren and Clear were sitting together on the sofa, and they exchanged unsure glances with the other. Yeah, they could in theory just get rid of the notion of studying all together, but it was Aoba who had been adamant that they work hard in the first place.

They sat, staring at Aoba expectantly. After a few seconds, Aoba groaned in defeat.

“Okay, let’s just watch a movie or something.”

Clear cheered and Ren put away his notes with a relieved look. They got out their loot from their grocery store adventures, spreading it all on the table as Aoba filed through the stack of DVDs at the corner of the room. Too lazy apparently to hook the DVD player up, Aoba just left Mizuki’s PS3 as it was and slid the disc for _Grease_ inside it.

“I figure a musical is the best for us in PJA, right?” Aoba said, plopping himself on the sofa as well, not before grabbing for one of the bowls of popcorn. The heat shot up Clear’s neck, Aoba’s jostling placing him right in the empty space between Ren and him. Their thighs touched, while the angle had Aoba’s shoulder against Ren’s. Clear tried not to giggle at the wide eyes and smile Ren was trying to fight off.

As the movie went on, and Clear and Aoba tried to get Ren to sing along with them, all three of their positions on the sofa got more relaxed. The blanket draped over the cushions was pulled over their bodies. Ren was laying at one corner, sprawled out slightly because Aoba was now using his chest as some cushion.

The image used to be something that would instantly drop Clear’s mood, but as he watched them out of the corner of his eye, he couldn’t help but feel like this was exactly how it was supposed to be. And anyway, Aoba plopped his legs over Clear’s, which meant there was hardly a comfortable position to put his hands other than Aoba’s thighs. Aoba didn’t say anything when Clear rested his palms down.

“This is a great musical and all,” Aoba said after the scene changed from “Hopelessly Devoted to You”, a personal favorite of Clear’s, “but I always thought it was kind of messed up that Sandy had to change herself to be a ‘suitable girlfriend’ for Danny.”

“Doesn’t Danny try to change as well though, for Sandy?” Ren pointed out. He reached over to the coffee table to get a scoop of his Phish Food.

“Well, yeah, but why does anyone have to change for their partner? Like, you can become a better person of course, but they were trying to fix things about themselves that weren’t broken.”

Clear thought about it, focusing away from the movie. He could understand where Aoba was coming from, but he could also empathize with what both Sandy and Danny had to have been thinking. When you like someone so much, you’d be willing to make yourself up any which way to gain their approval. It probably wasn’t healthy or right, and in the long run you’d still be you, but… Clear remembered how earlier in the semester he’d done everything he could to be someone “normal” and “outgoing” in order to catch Aoba’s attention. He didn’t want to remember the things he wore that made him freaky. He didn’t want to just be the boy with vitiligo.

Sitting here watching a movie with both Aoba and Ren though, wearing his glittery top and having his nails painted an easter-egg yellow, Clear thought he was a lot more comfortable than before though. With himself, that was. This was a place of security and these were people he could relax and flop down on a sofa with, sharing gradually melting ice cream and perfectly salted popcorn.

“This movie gave me such false hopes for high school,” Aoba said as they watched the drag race scene. “Oh, but Mizuki actually did do that.”

“Uwahh, Mizuki is so cool!”

“Yeah, he even had a leather jacket. Actually, come to think of it,” Aoba turned to look at Ren with a cocky grin, “I saw you wear a leather jacket once.”

Caught in the stares of both Aoba and Clear, Ren sat frozen and embarrassed for a second before muttering, “M-maybe…”

“Ren! You must’ve looked so cool too!”

“He did, he did,” Aoba agreed. “Hmm, I bet if we borrow one of Mizuki’s, and then slick your hair up a bit… You could be a greaser too.”

Ren looked alarmed. “I’m fine.”

“After the movie, we’re doing it!” Aoba declared it like his word was the final one. Clear noticed that Ren was decidedly more frozen for the remainder of the film. Aoba apparently didn’t notice as he kept singing away with Clear, who was all too happy to share the duet “You’re the One That I Want” with him, taking on Sandy’s part.

As promised, as soon as Danny and Sandy flew off in their car (it was the most random ending still, in Clear’s opinion, but whatever), Aoba shot up and strode purposefully into Mizuki’s room. Ren tried to call out to no avail, and his shoulders sank down in defeat.

“Don’t look like that, Ren! It’ll be just like dressing up for our musical theatre class! You’ll see, it’ll be fun!”

“I’ll do it if you two really want to, but,” his cheeks colored, “please don’t laugh or anything.”

“Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll look so sexy~”

“C-Clear…”

“No, he’s totally right,” Aoba said. He emerged out from the hallway, carrying a black and red leather jacket with a bunch of studs lining it. He smirked, tossing it over at Ren.

Ren held it silently for a few seconds, then got up with a red face and shrugged the jacket on. His shoulders were about just as broad as Mizuki’s, so it fit him really well. He was a bit bigger in the chest so they left the jacket unzipped. While no one in the apartment had any hair gel, they made do with just slicking Ren’s hair back with water. With all his hair out of his face, it was even more obvious how handsome he was. Clear was certain he saw Aoba captivated for a moment before his gaze shot down.

“Clear was right,” Aoba said again with a playful smile. “You look _really_ good, Ren. Maybe we should go back out and have you cruise the city.”

“I-I’d rather not go out dressed like this…”

“I’m getting you a leather jacket for Christmas, okay?”

“Aoba…” Ren made to try and take off the article of clothing, but both Clear and Aoba stopped him with matching conspiratorial grins.

“Don’t move around too much, you’ll mess up your hair!”

“Wear it just a bit longer, Ren!”

In the end, Ren had no choice but to go along with it. Clear decided since Ren was being made up anyway, he’d tease Ren with wanting to paint his toenails the same red as the jacket. To his surprise, he didn’t refuse. Even Aoba said he wanted to do it too - apparently Sei would do it to him a lot anyway, so the act never phased him anymore. Excited, Clear went to his bag and got out the pouch of nail polishes Sei had let him borrow.

Aoba opted for one of the blues (“Blue My Mind”) that he said was his favorite, and he got to work like a pro. Clear and Ren stared at him, amused.

“What?” Aoba said. “I’m practically a veteran in this kind of thing. I could do yours after you’re done with Ren’s, Clear.”

Although surprised, Clear laughed. “Yes, that sounds great!” And he uncapped the bottle of “Jungle Red” to start on Ren.

The rest of the evening passed in a flurry of laughs from the funny stories Aoba told, and the hypnotic beats pouring out from Aoba’s iPod being hooked to speakers. They made the sofa into a futon and sprawled onto it to let their nails dry, Clear’s toes having been painted “Yellow Brick Road”, the name having started a whole conversation how the Munchkins used to freak Aoba out and Ren had had nightmares of the Wicked Witch of the West before.

The rest of the popcorn was eaten, and some cans of the Fanta were scattered about. Aoba tried his carton of Phish Food at last and agreed, at Ren and Clear’s expectant stares that it was indeed delicious.

Next to no studying got done by the time they curled up in more sleepy positions on the futon, a blanket tossed over all three of them. It crossed Clear’s mind that maybe he should ask Aoba if he should go sleep on his own bed. But Aoba’s forehead was pressed against his shoulder, and he was breathing over Clear’s skin. Despite his conscience, there was no way Clear was going to bring up Aoba moving. If Ren’s own content expression from Aoba’s hand laying on his chest meant anything, he felt the same.

Aoba was fast asleep. _Cute_... A few strands of hair curled down on Ren’s forehead, the water having dried. Most of his face was still exposed though, and his amber eyes were so open, his stare easy to catch for once even in the dark of the night. Clear smiled. _Cute_.

“Ren.”

“Hmm?”

“This was really fun, wasn’t it?”

The corner of Ren’s lips tugged up. “Yes.”

“Aoba looked like he had fun too.”

“He did.”

“I’m so glad~”

Clear turned ever so slightly, and so did Ren, so that both of them had curled in a little more into Aoba. Under the sheets, Clear searched for Ren’s hand. After a second, their fingers brushed, then linked to each other at the same time. The moment they did, Clear was aware how solid they all were, their bodies close together, touching, and all so warm and real. Something light and airy prompted his heart to soar, but Clear had no idea what to name the feeling.

So instead, he wished both Ren and Aoba goodnight and closed his eyes.

When he got two soft replies, and Aoba’s soft, content sigh against his arm, Clear couldn’t hold back his overjoyed smile.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr, clears-jellyfish-dress  
> Twitter, @fuwajellyfish


End file.
